Suspect arrested in attempted rape of 15-year-old

Police say man may be connected to at least two other assault cases.

Police say man may be connected to at least two other assault cases.

March 08, 2006|ALICIA GALLEGOS Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Driving around in the early morning darkness, Cpl. Suzy Dieter carefully scanned the roads for a light green car. The police officer said she had asked her captain if she could start her shift a couple hours early Friday to help look for an attempted rape suspect. The man was reportedly cruising near schools before classes started and targeting young women, Dieter said. A 15-year-old Adams High School student had been attacked the day before, but managed to escape. Dieter decided to take her personal car, knowing she would have a better chance of laying low while searching for the suspect. Close to 7 a.m. the officer was on Lincolnway West near Wilber Street when she spotted a car matching the vehicle description in an empty lot across from Silver Tower restaurant. "I thought, 'Oh my God, this is the guy,'" Dieter said. "He looked at me and took off." After calling for backup, Dieter and another officer pulled the man's vehicle over in the 1600 block of O'Brien Street and he was taken into custody. During his arrest, Dieter noticed muddy footprints on the interior of the vehicle and remembered the victim telling police how she had kicked at its doors. The 31-year-old suspect is believed to be connected to at least two other sexual assaults in the area along with the attempted rape of the teenager, according to police. He remains in the St. Joseph County jail on $3,000 bond. In the most recent assault, according to police, the man forced the 15-year-old student into his car as she walked to school Thursday morning near the intersection of Sorin Street and Twyckenham Drive. The suspect then put a screwdriver to her neck and threatened to kill her, while attempting to fondle her, police said. The victim told police she bit her attacker's hand and was able to get out of the car a few minutes later near Sample and Marietta streets. Another woman had reported being pulled into a vehicle Feb. 26 while walking to her bus stop near Riley High School and raped. The 21-year-old victim said she was walking about 10:50 a.m. when a man in a purple vehicle pulled up and asked if she needed a ride, reports said. The suspect grabbed the woman's arm, pulling her inside the car, and drove toward the 700 block of East Sample Street, where he raped her at knifepoint, according to reports. When questioned by police after his arrest, the suspect reportedly admitted to giving the Adams High School student a ride and kissing her, but nothing else, according to reports. He also admitted to having sexual relations with the second victim but not forcibly, police said. Police believe the suspect is also linked to a third assault in January in which a 35-year-old Mishawaka woman reported being kidnapped and raped. The woman said she was flagged down while driving in the 1600 block of West Ewing Street about 5 a.m. Jan. 22. The driver grabbed her hair and put a razor blade to her throat before forcing her out of the vehicle and into his vehicle, reports said. She was taken to an unknown location, where she said he raped her. Police spokesman Capt. John Williams credits the quick work of officers and cooperation by different departments in Friday's arrest. "These kind of things don't happen every day," he said. Dieter says the detailed description given by the 15-year-old also helped the investigation. "It was absolutely the key to the case," she said.